Best Smartwatch Manufacturer Garmin

HIGHLY COMMENDED Apple

For the second time this year, Apple has been knocked off its perch. Garmin, which last won the

Best Smartwatch Manufacturer award back in

2017, edged the 2020 contest by a mere percentage point. Despite losing by a wide margin to Apple on ease of use, Garmin posted strong results in the battery life and reli ability cate gories .

It might have done even better for cust omer support if it hadn’t been for the ransomware attack earlier this year, but Boyd Park wasn’t put off: “It’ s very reli able and has a great ecosystem”. Danny Tsang added: “Amazi ng reliability with sync – if only Wear OS was as good!”

Meanw hile, Peter Dowset t prai sed runner- up Apple’s “great integration with other Apple products” and Mikhael Micha elides is a very happy customer indeed: “An Apple Watch Serie s4 replaced my ageing Series 0 Watch. I bought it as part of an offe r from my (th en) health insurer Vita lity. The differ ence in speed and resp onsi vene ss was astounding! 18 months on and it’s still fast and very usable.”

Mark Wright’ s experi ence with a Fitbit Ionic couldn’ t have been more different: “The Ionic is the worst product I’ve ever bought,” he wrote. While Fitbi t replaced his first Ionic without fuss, something it’s famous for, that replacement “regularly freezes, doesn’t charge, tapping on the screen doesn’t always give you what you want and setting it up and getting it to connect to Wi- Fi was a nightmare. It has been like step ping back to the 1980s.” Ouch.